Singer, performer, poet, compare; these are just some of the roles the great Rosie Lugosi undertakes. As the singer in goth favourites, The March Violets, frequently performing at the Whitby Goth Weekend and a regular face on the burlesque and fetish scenes across Europe, Rosie is an awe-inspiring woman who has defeated throat cancer, survived being shot at and avoided a stalker. Alyss Abyss talked to this talented and friendly woman.
You were originally a singer in goth band, The March Violets. What's the story behind those early days?
Leeds. The March Violets strummed their first riff and scrawled their first set list in 1981. I was dodging bombs that went off in my street as the North of England welcomed the arrival of Thatcher in its customary forthright style. The 80s wasn’t all fluffy Flock of Seagulls. The 80s was also about seeing homeless beggars on the streets of the UK for the first time for 100 years, the Miners’ Strike, endemic police corruption, the Yorkshire Ripper, and the Tories selling England by the pound.
We didn’t know we were goth – the word wasn’t stapled to the music till years after. We didn’t know we were at the forefront of this new dark wave –we were just writing songs. Yes, they were grimy and pissed off.
Was it an important time in your life and why?
Despite all of the above, I felt like I was in the best place in the world to be alive. There was this new scene that had no name: anything could happen, and felt like it would, any minute now. It was a jumble of punk, glamour, romanticism, death, darkness and glitter. Hard to believe it was happening in that mix for the first time – I felt like I’d come home.
I was also dealing with coming out - bang in the middle of 80s feminism, when a ‘real’ dyke had cropped hair, wore dungarees, and had nothing to do with the Enemy (men). As a kinky female with big hair, lipstick, a lot of male friends and a penchant for tight leather pants my timing was absolutely appalling…
When the band split, did you know you'd want to continue performing?
I’ve been onstage since I was five! My first performance was the Elf Queen in infants’ school. All that dressing up: discovering how you could transform yourself into a fairy queen, a bloodthirsty pirate or a dashing prince with the aid of yards of shiny fabric. I’ve never looked back. At the age of 15 I formed a band with the other weird kids in my school. We played metal covers and were absolutely awful. I loved every minute.
There has never been a time when I haven’t performed - nor will there ever come a time when I stop. You’ll have to carry me offstage in a box. It’s more than just in my blood, it’s in my bone marrow: take apart my DNA and you’ll find it embedded on the cellular level. Even throat cancer hasn’t kept me down.
When was Rosie Lugosi, the vampire queen, first conceived as your performance persona and why?
If you’re different, you stand out. It doesn’t matter whether that ‘difference’ is queer, goth, geek, different religion, square peg in round hole, whatever. If you stand out as a kid, it’s tough. It’s hard work swimming against the overwhelming sludge of normality.
Rosie Lugosi is my ‘don’t care / kick ass / unshakeable’ response to that experience of growing up different.
I’ve been tantalising audiences with my unique blend of poetic perversion, camp humour, mayhem and song for ten years; performing twisted parodies of Andy Williams, Shirley Bassey and Gloria Gaynor (to name a few poor victims) in a vamp-goth-fetish style. As for why - Vampires are erotic, and unconventional, and the ultimate outsiders. They exist outside society; challenging & outraging, yet fascinating it. This is at the heart of my act.
Rosie Lugosi is defiant and transgressive, predatory vampiric villainess who never gets staked. She is six foot tall in six-inch stilettos, clad in rubber catsuit and sparkly corset, top hat, fangs and hoisted cleavage and gets to say all the things we are not supposed to say, wear the things we aren’t supposed to wear.
by Holly Fairclough
What prompted you to start publishing your writing?
People kept asking me where they could get copies of my work! I hate to disappoint.
I’ve been incredibly lucky – I’ve got four solo collections of poetry and my short stories have been widely anthologised. I’ve been featured in Mslexia and Succour magazines and this year I’ve been on the front cover of Dominion and Ascension. I’m also in the Xmas 2011 Good Housekeeping magazine. I am not kidding.
Are you happiest when you are writing or performing and why?
They are very different and satisfy different parts of myself. If I didn’t love every second on stage I wouldn’t bloody do it. If I wasn’t compelled to write, I wouldn’t keep at it in the bloody-minded way that I do. If writing didn’t make me feel healthy on a profound level, I’d run out of steam after a while. I’m certainly not in it for the millions…
You've won many awards, for both your writing and performances. Which are you most proud of and why?
I’ve won the Erotic Oscar Award for Performance Artist of the Year, the Diva Award for Solo Performer (when I polled more votes than Kylie Minogue) and the Dada Award for Performance Art.
Sure, I could list the ‘big’ events, the ‘big’ wins, the ‘biggest’ audiences, the ‘biggest’ festivals, the most exotic locations. But sometimes it’s the smaller events that make the impact. For example, last year I was really proud to win a People’s Poetry Award from The Bread Is Rising, a grassroots group of Latino poets based in Harlem, New York.
Your performances are a little different to most of the current cabaret and burlesque. Where do you take your inspiration from?
I’ve worked with some absolutely superb acts in the UK, Europe and USA. There are a vast number of burlesque performers out there and a lot of them are fantastic. Sadly, some folk think that being able to remove their bra without falling over makes them a dancer. It doesn’t.
Rosie Lugosi is not a generic, copycat act. If you’re sitting uncomfortably, then we’ll begin! Rosie Lugosi is the radical lesbian feminist, dominatrix, bitch goddess, top femme, cropwhipping, bodiceripping, arsekicking, bloodsucking, nightcreeping, neversleeping, tonguelashing, taboosmashing vampire queen. And that’s as close as I get to compromise…
Rosie Lugosi is a Frankenstein creation sewn together from worst nightmares and wildest dreams, all the murky things we’re not supposed to think about. Asking questions we are not supposed to ask.
In many respects, Rosie Lugosi is a drag act. I’m a female drag queen - a woman who dresses up as an extreme example of what a woman is supposed to look like. I challenge the tensions that women feel about how “real” women are represented in society/media.
Sure, some people only see the ‘shiny showgirl’ side of Rosie Lugosi. I see her as a femme Trojan Horse, a stealth queer guerrilla. Ok, it’s not the most original thought in the universe, but humour can ease the delivery of uncomfortable messages. And my messages are uncomfortable – as are those of anyone who is making a stand against the rise of the religious right, the startling resurgence of anti-Semitism, the demonisation of Muslims, queers, and anyone else who is different, like I said before.
If you’re only getting your message over to those who already agree, (and alienating those who don’t) then it can’t be much of a message. Or it’s self-indulgence. Whatever. I want to change minds, not confirm prejudices, and that feels like a harder job.
What prompted The March Violets to reform and are you enjoying working with the guys again?
It’s great. One of the pleasant surprises getting back together with Si and Tom was discovering how well we get on. I like these guys!
We got back in touch in 2007, and there was some on-off talk of a reunion. But we had no idea if anyone out there was interested. After all, it was 25 years since the last March Violets gig. We decided to do a one-off show, record some new tracks and see how it was received. If no-one had turned up, that would have been a clear answer! It was an astonishing success. To this day we haven’t seen or heard a bad review. Or even a lukewarm review. That’s a hell of an achievement – people were pleased to see us back. Very pleased indeed.
Following the 2007 Homecoming gig and the Trinity EP we received a slew of offers to perform at festivals and gigs all over the UK and Europe – and then I got throat cancer. Which put everything on hold somewhat. It’s taken me a long time to get healthy, and it’s been bloody hard work. The show in 2010 at the O2 Academy in London was by way of a return. Pretty damn fine return it was too. In 2011 we’ve played all over the UK and Europe – here’s to 2012.
You are often involved with LGBT and sex positive events. Is it important to you to show your support?
I’ve always found myself writing about outsiders; whoever they might be. I’m interested in characters who won’t (or can’t) squeeze into the one-size-fits-all templates they have been provided, and the friction that occurs when they try. I’ve always been an outsider myself; a square peg from the word go. Again, that’s far from unique: so many creative people I know feel out-of-sync with what is expected.
You are part of the team who run Club Lash, which has been going strong for over 13 years. What do you think makes it a success?
Club Lash has always been organised by women - of a wide variety of sexualities. Way back in 1997 myself and three other fetish gals got tired of having nowhere to go. We couldn't believe that there was nothing for us in Manchester. Also, we wanted something extra, something sleaze-free and somewhere women would want to go. My experience of fetish clubs up to that point was a 75% male clientele and getting pestered by dodgy blokes. The result was that we set up Club Lash. Our female management is one of the secrets of our success. Women automatically feel safer at an event that’s run by women. And if women feel safe, then it follows that everyone else does too. So we are unusual in having a 50-50 gender balance.
From the start we set out to have an enjoyable, welcoming, inclusive and friendly night. We have a truly eclectic mix of punters – gay/straight (and all points in between), women/men (and all points in between, and there are many), black/white, young/old, disabled/able bodied… you name it, we get ‘em. We can’t think of another club in Manchester where you could get such a mix of people and have them all getting on with each other so well. Neither are we a fashion-victim club that is full of white 20-somethings in the latest expensive rubber gear: and we are proud to have great DJs who don’t limit their playlist to sodding techno.
Do you have any tips for those wishing to make a name for themselves as alternative performers?
I’m never sure about offering ‘tips’! Why on earth would anyone be interested? It’s only my opinion, and everyone’s entitled to their own. That said, here goes: when faced with a decision, I ask myself the question – how long will I be dead? It helps get me off my arse. I have always been a bit of a ‘if not now, when?’ gal, and cancer sure put things in startlingly clear perspective. There’s nothing like getting a glimpse of your sell-by date to provide a boot up the backside.
Time spent playing computer games is time you’ll never get back. Go write a poem, or start a new club, or form a band, or knit a new manifesto. That’s it folks.
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